Helpless Embrace
by Valhalla Redfern
Summary: For Charlize Redfern it should have been a simple assignment, but what’s simple in the Night World? Falling is love with the target is bad enough. Try it when the target is another girl, and your male soulmate and best friend are furious with jealousy a
1. Part 1

Part 1  
  
It should have been such a simple easy job. At least that was what Charlize had been told. Find the untrained lost witch and eliminate her before Daybreak found her. A quick job for quick cash.  
  
Dripping water echoed somewhere. Her new D+G shoes were probably ruined. Hiding from Night World agents in a smelly sewer was not the best idea in the world, certainly not for $400 shoes.  
  
She tried to keep as quiet as she could. She should blend in with the shadows easily enough. It was one of the talents she prided herself on.  
  
As long as they hadn't brought a werewolf who could smell her out.  
  
"She came down here. I /saw/ her."  
  
Charlize's eyes closed as she heard the bitterness in Chiron's voice. She hadn't meant to betray him. The whole thing had just sort of happened, leaving her way out her league. Skye's bitchiness wasn't helping either.   
  
"For God's sake, it's /Charlize/. Dirty, grimy places are the last thing she'd be in. Let's just /go/."  
  
"That's my *point*. We should have brought Samantha with us."  
  
Skye's laugh reverberated through the sewer tunnel, dead and mirthlessly. "Great, traitors and werewolves, just what I want to spend my evening with."  
  
Charlize gritted her teeth in her hiding place. She couldn't believe that girl had once been her best friend. ~Hunted down by my best friend and my soulmate isn't how I wanted to spend my evening either~ she thought moodily.  
  
"Let's go," Skye repeated. "We'll call Candice and Verne to do a locating spell. We'll get her. Just not in here."  
  
Charlize held her breath as she heard them leaving. She waited a good half an hour before coming out of her hiding place, waiting in tense silence, just to make certain they were gone.   
  
Her heart was racing as she crept along to the ladder leading out into the street. She looked around nervously. No sign of Chiron or Skye. She guessed that could be considered a good thing.   
  
Maybe a small part of her was hoping secretly that they would be hiding around a corner, ready to jump out and take her back. All she saw were dark empty areas of the industrial park as she climbed out the sewer tunnel.  
  
Charlize sighed, and almost screamed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hey, relax, it's just me."  
  
She breathed a sigh of relief, turning around to see Shara standing there. Shara eyed her for a moment, then took her hand from Charlize's shoulder. Charlize felt extremely awkward as the two of them just stood there looking at each other.   
  
She wanted to move, but couldn't seem to get her feet in gear.  
  
A car horn honked. "I hate to break the mood, but we need to get out of here, like, now."  
  
Charlize was almost grateful for Neil's interruption . It was easier to turn to him. She heard Shara sigh, Charlize tried to ignore it as she followed Neil, the small male witch, back to the car. She got in the front while Shara and Neil got in the back.  
  
"They're not following us are they?" Lori, the 'shifter in the driver's seat asked.  
  
Charlize shook her head. "No, they've gone."  
  
"Good." Lori drove off.  
  
Charlize watched the streets of her hometown flying by as she looked out the window. She didn't know if she'd ever see them again.  
  
* * * 


	2. Part 2

Part 2  
  
So much for all that lovey-dovey together forever crap. The whole soulmate principle was a farce. You bent over backwards to make your soulmate happy, then the bitch goes and betrays you.  
  
It was bad enough to actually be affected by this soulmate thing. It had been hard enough for Chiron to accept that Charlize Redfern was the perfect girl for him. They were about as different as fire from water.  
  
He sat alone on the rooftop of the apartment building he and Charlize lived in, gazing out at blankly at the darkened buildings below, lit occasionally with a yellow light.  
  
Charlize had often liked to come and lie up here on the roof, she'd be there for hours just watching the stars until he had to come and drag her in.  
  
Her moods shifted continuously. She could go from being broody to bright and cheerful, to snotty and bitchy. There was just no telling. He himself was a take things as they came kind of guy. He liked to think he was the more rational minded one of the pair.   
  
The surprising thing was they were both Night People, him a shifter, her a lamia. They were a strange couple, but in a weird way, the relationship had worked.  
  
"This'll cheer you up, it seems Charlize and her new friends aren't as smart as they'd like to think."  
  
Chiron sighed, staring at the cigarette he had lit and forgotten to smoke. Most of it was just ash. He dropped it on the ground and snuffed it out with the heel of his combat boot. He didn't look at the speaker, his friend Verne, a witch. "That doesn't cheer me up."  
  
"I really don't see the fascination with this place."  
  
Chiron heard the fire escape door open and Skye's voice.  
  
"I'm starting to think /nothing/ will cheer you up," Verne snorted. "What /is/ it you girls see in him?"  
  
Chiron felt Skye's arms around his slender waist, her fingers running through his long dark red hair, shot through with black streaks. His figure was extremely slim for a guy, at a distance he could almost be mistaken for feminine. He wasn't even that interested in Skye all over him. He wanted Charlize. Skye was just - convenient.   
  
"He's almost - kittenish," Skye answered.  
  
Chiron snorted, pushing her away. "Gee, you really know how to flatter a guy." He stood up and looked at Verne. "You said you had news."  
  
Verne handed him a piece of paper. "According to my contact this is where Charlize is."  
  
"Let's go teach this bitch a lesson." Skye's tone had changed from flirty sweet to icy cold.  
  
For once, Chiron found himself actually liking her.  
  
* * * 


	3. Part 3

Part 3  
  
Three Months Earlier...  
  
"Are you sure this is really a good idea?"   
  
Charlize's eyes rolled as she pulled the tiger-print top over her head. She ignored Chiron hovering in the doorway. "I've heard the same story from Skye all morning. I don't need it from you too." She held up a short black leather skirt in front of her waist, then a pair of purple leather pants.  
  
"And she hasn't gotten the fact this is way out of your league into your head?"  
  
Charlize fought the urge to throw something at him. ~Why did I have to get stuck with a pain in ass for a soulmate~ she thought.  
  
"And I suppose if the Council had called /you/ it would have been a different story." She settled on the skirt, slipped into it and turned to glare at him.  
  
Chiron's elegant lips curled into a smirk. "Yes, because I'm more careful than you. I know what I'm doing."  
  
"Well they didn't ask for you, they asked me. You and Skye are just going to have to deal with it." She shoved him out the doorway and slammed the door shut.  
  
Why couldn't he ever be supportive of her decisions? Charlize had had been waiting for /months/ for something interesting to happen to her. About a year ago two Council reps had come to her hometown in search of new recruits. Charlize had jumped at the opportunity to put her name down. Only ages had passed and no work had come. For some reason her friends seemed pleased that the Council didn't want her. Then that morning the call had come. In an hour she was to meet with Mason Noir, a secretary for the Redferns, her own clan.  
  
All Chiron and Skye had done was blather about what a mistake she was making. ~Idiots~ Charlize thought, tugging a brush through her raven hair. ~I'll show them~  
  
The door opened. "Don't you ever knock?" she snapped as Chiron reappeared.  
  
He shrugged. "Your limo's outside waiting."  
  
"Thanks." She picked up her purse and brushed past him. He reached out and caught her arm, pulling her in close to him.  
  
"Just be careful, okay?"  
  
Charlize looked at him for a few moments, almost surprised at the serious expression on his face. "Nothing is going to happen to me." She kissed him quickly before hurrying out the apartment to the large shiny black stretch limo waiting for her. The Council really did it in style. Charlize couldn't help smirking as the driver opened the door and she settled on the soft leather seats. Her first real assignment for the Redferns. What could go wrong?  
  
* * * 


	4. Part 4

Part 4  
  
If only she could pull the covers over her head and forget the rest of the world existed. Shara wished she could just go back to sleep. She wouldn't have to put up with the boring monotony of high school. If only she could drift into the world of dreams and forget things like the Night World existed.   
  
Unfortunately, being hit on the head with a pillow was not helping achieve the peaceful bliss she had been hoping for.   
  
"Get /up/ already! God, I swear you could sleep through the end of the world."  
  
Fellow Daybreak shapeshifter Lori Walton was unrelenting. Shara groaned, sitting up, her curly blonde hair falling around her shoulders like a messy mop.   
  
Lori just laughed. Shara's eyes rolled. "Is there a reason you're bothering me at this ungodly hour on a Sunday morning?"  
  
Lori snorted. "It's nine thirty! And I really, really need to borrow your car."  
  
Shara sighed. "Why?"  
  
"I'm meeting Barclay for lunch at his family's estate. He's just /so/ dreamy. And it's either me borrow your car or you give me a lift."  
  
"Did you miss the fact that he's a /vampire/ and a vicious jerk on top of it?"  
  
Lori waved dismissively. "Those are just rumours. Besides, he's not as bad as you think."  
  
It was Shara's turn to snort. Bleached blond brat Barclay Menendez was one of those arrogant jerks who thought he could smile at a girl and she'd destroy the world for him. Lori was an idiot if she thought she could make him a Daybreaker.  
  
"Why do I have the feeling I'm doing to regret this - and /don't/ squeal."  
  
Lori clapped her hands together with glee. She was like an excited six year old on her first trip to Disney World. "I'll make it up to you, I promise." She hopped off the bed. "I should go out and buy something new. I don't have to be there until eleven, I've got time."  
  
Lori looked stunning as always in a silky blue sundress that clung in all the right places, it's skirt just short enough to show a decent amount of leg without being too slutty. Her light brown hair hung in soft curls to her shoulders, shining healthily in the morning sunlight.   
  
"You don't need something new, you look fine." Shara couldn't keep the note of envy out her voice.  
  
"Hey, if it helps I've noticed Chiron Crowe checking you out the other day, he and Barclay are friends, maybe I could get him to set you guys up, then we could double date." Lori waved and danced off down the hall.  
  
Shara's eyes rolled. The last thing she wanted was a date with Chiron Crowe. Lori couldn't seem to recognise the Night Worlders unless they hit her over the head and /told/ her. Besides, Chiron was already dating the daughter of Hunter Redfern's latest love interest.  
  
She dragged herself out of bed, washed, dressed and went into the kitchen to se who else was around in the Daybreak safehouse she lived in.  
  
The kitchen was quiet, there was no one else downstairs. Since it was Sunday, Shara guessed the other residents were still asleep. The other three in the house were werewolf Brad, his roommate Neil and their only vampire Adele. Her witch and Lori shapeshifter made up the group.   
  
Las Vegas itself was probably over run with Night People. The last two Harman witches lived there, as well as Thierry Descouedres, the founder of Circle Daybreak, his mansion was somewhere in the city. So a safehouse with a bunch of supernatural creatures in the suburban areas wasn't such a weird thing anymore.  
  
Well, it might be weird for the humans who didn't know about the Night World.  
  
"I don't understand why they would even bother."  
  
Shara turned, surprised to see Neil and Brad coming into the house through the back kitchen door. The alarm in Neil's voice sent of warning bells in Shara's mind. "What's happened?"  
  
Brad sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "Adele is dead."  
  
Shara stared at him. Adele was one of the nicest vampires in the world. "Who would want to kill Adele?"  
  
"We found her in the dumpster outside the White Orchid. I recognised the ring tone when her cell went off," Neil told her.  
  
The White Orchid chain was a new group of clubs Thierry had set up around the country for Daybreakers. Their locations were supposed to be secret, there were specific pass words for each one.  
  
Shara was too shocked to know what to say. She leaned against the counter in silence, staring blankly at the oven. Someone had killed Adele outside a secret Daybreak club.  
  
"Maybe whoever it was just wanted a convenient place to dump the body and didn't know about the club." Brad cringed at his own words.  
  
"And there were no clues - are you /sure/ it was Adele?" Shara just didn't want to accept that Adele was /gone/. She could feel tears starting to form. "Lots of people have the same ring tone."  
  
"She had this on her wrist." Neil held up a silver bracelet with tiny moon and star charms dangling from it. The bracelet had been specifically designed for Adele for her sixteenth birthday. The tears spilled. Shara normally prided herself on her control, right now she couldn't care about her composure.  
  
The murder of an innocent girl like Adele was just /cruel/, even if she had been a vampire. There was just no reason to kill her.  
  
"Do you know if this was Adele's?" Neil held up another piece of jewellery.   
  
The necklace was a delicate gold chain with a row of sapphires hanging from it. Shara frowned at the pretty chain. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "No. But I've seen it before somewhere. I know I have."  
  
Brad nodded. "Me too. But I can't for the life of me remember who it belongs to."  
  
Shara turned away from them. She was going to /find/ the owner of that necklace. They knew something about Adele's killer. That monster was going to /pay/ for what they did.  
  
* * * 


	5. Part 5

Part 5  
  
"You seem a little disappointed," Skye commented as she and Charlize made their way to the cafeteria at lunch.   
  
Charlize shrugged. She had missed most of the morning due to her task for the Council. Which turned out to be not really from the Joint Council, but for some rep for the Redferns in the town. Just some rich jerk who had some problems and liked to push people around to get what he wanted done.  
  
"All I have to do is find some lost witch," Charlize moaned as they made their way though the hot food queue. "How dull is /that/?"  
  
Skye eyed her dubiously. "That took all morning?"  
  
Charlize grunted. "The guy I had to see was a complete asshole who couldn't keep his hands to himself." She helped herself to a slice of pizza and a large helping of fries. Junk food might improve her mood. "There was another girl there - remember Magdalena Rodriguez?"   
  
"Stupid annoying werewolf?" Skye selected a portion of spaghetti and meatballs.   
  
"Yeah. She was /there/ getting high praise for offing and idiot Daybreaker. She signed up the /same/ /time/ I did! She's not even a /Redfern/. She got the better job!" Charlize raged as she paid for her lunch.  
  
"Work your way up. She probably slept with someone to get her job," Skye smirked.  
  
"Not funny," Charlize snapped. "Now I'm related to the Redferns, my line can be almost traced back to Maya. And look how /lame/ my assignment is."  
  
"Have you two ever heard of the term secrecy?" Verne said as he joined Charlize and Skye at their usual table.  
  
Charlize opened her mouth, then groaned. She could have staked herself. She'd been ranting and raving about the injustice of Night World politics and blabbing Night World information in a high school cafeteria. If someone had heard she'd be dead before she knew what was coming and never work her way up the chain of command.  
  
"I've had a bad morning," she said through gritted teeth. "Where's Chiron?"  
  
Verne shrugged. "He never showed up this morning either."  
  
Charlize reached up absently for the gold necklace she always wore around her throat. Her hand brushed bare skin. Oh great. On top of everything she had lost the most important piece of jewellery she owned. Chiron was going to kill her.  
  
"Charlize is upset because she got a lousy assignment from Mason Noir." Skye was still smirking, with an -I-told-you-so look on her face.  
  
What did Skye know about Mason Noir anyway? Skye was only a witch, and not one from a recognised clan, either.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Rep for the Redferns in town. Weird, cause he's not actually one of them."  
  
Charlize had lost interest in her lunch. She stood up and stalked off. Skye called after her, but Charlize kept going, knocking people out her way as she went.  
  
"This was found at the scene. Know who it belongs to?"  
  
Charlize caught sight of a flash of gold and blue. She recognised the girl holding up the necklace as one of the Daybreakers. Her necklace! How the hell had a damned Daybreaker managed to get hold of it?  
  
"That's mine!" she snapped, and snatched it back. Shara and Lori just stared at her, dumbstruck. "Whatever," Charlize sneered, and stalked off.   
  
* * *  
  
Shara stared after Charlize Redfern's retreating back.   
  
"/She/ did it?" Lori whispered. "Doesn't surprise me."  
  
Shara had vowed revenge on the owner of the necklace. That person had destroyed Adele in cold blood. But something about the way Charlize had snatched the necklace back was off putting in a way she couldn't quite describe.  
  
"Prime suspect," she said out loud, but wasn't all that sure.  
  
* * * 


	6. Part 6

Part 6  
  
"It's too bad we can't make a habit of this." Magdalena's crimson nails ran up Chiron's arm as she fixed him with one of her best smiles.  
  
He just sneered at her, not bothering to hide his contempt. "Don't go and get your hopes up. This was a one off. And let's leave it at that." He got out her car.  
  
Magdalena sighed, watching the slender figure disappearing into the night. What she wouldn't give to run her fingers through that long hair of his, kiss those sculpted lips, rest her head against that smooth chest. She shivered just thinking about it.   
  
Too bad he was in love with that snotty cow Charlize Redfern who didn't deserve him. She just couldn't figure out what Chiron saw in her.   
  
She drove home, her good mood on completing her task fading. She hadn't even known she'd be working with him.  
  
Her parents were in the living room when she got home, staring blankly at a repeat of a baseball game on the TV. Magdalena sighed again, but this time with irritation rather than pleasure as she went up to her room. Her work for the Council was supposed to get her recognised and earn her some respect.  
  
She slammed her bedroom door, slumping in her desk chair. She was still unpopular with the other Night People, as always. Attractive guys like Chiron didn't even look twice at her.  
  
Then again, as Mason had pointed out, she could get the better, more dangerous work and pull it of without being recognised and caught. /He/ respected her.  
  
Before long Hunter Redfern himself would have some work, and it would be /her/ who got it. /That/ would earn her all the respect she deserved. Unfortunately, it had been two weeks since that conversation and she was still on basics stuck with a gorgeous, but annoying shapeshifter.  
  
She turned on the TV, allowing herself a small smirk. Charlize Redfern was going to get what she deserved. Planting that necklace was only the beginning.  
  
* * * 


End file.
